NEWS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 17, 2002

Bonnie Raitt Fuels Up with Cleaner Burning Biodiesel on Tour
“Green Highway” tour puts American fuels in the spotlight

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Musician Bonnie Raitt is doing more for America than entertaining her fans on her nationwide tour currently underway – she’s protecting the environment by using a renewable fuel called biodiesel. She is the first U.S. entertainer to adopt cleaner-burning American-made biodiesel for use on tour. Dubbed the Green Highway Tour, Raitt is traveling coast to coast through September 22 performing at major venues while raising awareness about renewable fuels. She will be performing at Riverbend Music Center on Saturday, August 17, 2002.

"It's no accident that we're in danger of losing both our ecological and our economic well-being at the same time," explains Raitt, who created the Green Highway concept along with colleagues Kathy Kane and Harvey Wasserman. "I feel too many government and corporate policies are inseparably shortsighted and we've created Green Highway to demonstrate that working in harmony with nature can offer real solutions for preserving both our planet and our prosperity."

Biodiesel fits with Raitt’s Green Highway Tour because it reduces emissions that are harmful to the environment as well as humans. It is a domestically produced fuel made from any fat or vegetable oil, most commonly soybean oil. Biodiesel can be used in any diesel engine with few or no modifications. Although biodiesel contains no petroleum, it can be blended with diesel at any level or used in its pure form.

The Raitt tour is powered by a combination of biodiesel, solar energy, wind and hybrid technology. Exhibits on renewable energy will be set up at each venue and information will be handed out to concert goers.

Griffin Industustries will provide the biodiesel used at Raitt’s Riverbend concert. Lykins Oil will distribute the fuel. Griffin is a member of the National Biodiesel Board (NBB), which is coordinating the tour’s use of the fuel.

“I think it’s wonderful that Bonnie Raitt is leading by example in using a farm-grown fuel that decreases emissions and dependence on foreign oil,” said Bob Metz, president of the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) and a South Dakota soybean farmer. “Biodiesel is beginning to enjoy commercial success as one of the fastest growing renewable fuels available, and hopefully Bonnie’s use of it will raise the visibility of the fuel and encourage others to use it.”

Biodiesel is available nationwide. More than 200 U.S. fleets currently use the fuel commercially, and it is also becoming increasingly available at public pumps and marinas. Biodiesel performs comparably to diesel fuel, with similar cetane and BTU content. It is the only renewable fuel to have passed the rigorous Health Effects testing requirements of the Clean Air Act. The results, submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency in 2000, show biodiesel is biodegradable, virtually non-toxic and free of sulfur. Emissions it reduces include particulate matter, unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and sulfates. B100 also reduces life cycle carbon dioxide by 78% compared to petroleum diesel according to Department of Energy research.

Readers can learn more about Bonnie Raitt’s Green Highway Tour by visiting www.greenhighway.net. To learn more about biodiesel, visit the NBB Web site at http://www.biodiesel.org or Griffin Industries Biodiesel Web Site at www.biog3000.com . The National Biodiesel Board is funded in part by the United Soybean Board and state soybean board checkoff programs.

Tom Campbell/Bonnie Raitt Staff
(310) 374 4837

 

Rick Geise, Griffin Industries, Inc.
Manufacturer of Bio G-3000 Biodiesel Fuel
(859) 572-2558